Youth in Governance

Educational Tools

Youth-Adult Partnerships in Community Decision Making: What Does it Take to Engage Adults in the Practice? by Shepherd Zeldin, Julie Petrokubi and Carole MacNeil

This report outlines a strategic, yet practical, framework for promoting Youth-Adult Partnership in settings such as organizational boards, community coalitions and local government. Grounded in two years of research with 4-H Youth Development in multiple states, this report describes “best practices” for how 4-H staff can effectively support volunteer and community leaders as they engage in youth-adult partnerships.  The report includes examples of approaches and best practices from the perspectives of youth development professionals, adult community leaders and young people.

4-H YIG Executive Summary

Youth in Governance Resource Grid (3 pages, 64k): UW-Extension County and State Offices have many resources available to support the planning, implementation and evaluation of Youth in Governance programs. This document lists many of the training and curriculum resources and contacts for obtaining more information about them.

Youth and Adult Leaders for Program Excellence: A Practical Guide for Program Assessment and Action Planning (the YALPE Resource Kit) is designed for groups that are seeking to promote positive youth development through strategies of youth participation, youth activism, youth voice and youth-adult partnership. The YALPE Resource Kit includes four sets of assessment tools and templates which enable user-friendly data entry, data analyses and report writing. Training and copies of the materials are available free to UW-Extension staff by contacting Matt Calvert or Shep Zeldin.

Supporting Youth Engagement in Public Decision-Making (Power Point Presentation, 2.87 mb) is a presentation developed by Matt Calvert for a WACEC audience using some slides created by Deb Jones, Jackson County. It may be adapted for other stakeholders.

Youth Involvement in Local Government: Wisconsin Models (4 pages, 50kb). This brief overview discusses the benefits of youth decision-making in goverment through service on boards and committees, advisory boards, and input roles. It also presents issues to consider when choosing among the various models.